A shield shell attachment structure illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 has been proposed as a structure in which a shield shell covering a connector housing for housing a terminal of a terminal end of an electric wire is attached to an attached portion.
FIGS. 1 and 2 are views illustrating the related shield shell attachment structure. FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a related shield shell connector. FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating the related shield shell attachment structure.
As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a shield shell attachment structure 100 mainly includes: a shield shell connector 110 including a connector housing 111 and a shield shell 121; and an attached portion 170 to which the shield shell connector 110 is attached.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the shield shell connector 110 includes: the connector housing 111; the shield shell 121 covering the connector housing 111; a rear holder 131 housed inside the shield shell 121; terminals 141 housed in the connector housing 111; and a front holder 151 holding the terminals 141.
The connector housing 111 has a holding lock 114 to be locked to the shield shell 121. The shield shell 121 has screw holes 129 in which screws 160 are inserted.
The shield shell connector 110 configured as mentioned above is assembled as follows. Specifically, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, with the terminals 141 housed in the connector housing 111, one side of the connector housing 111 is housed in and locked to the shield shell 121 through the holding lock 114, while the other side of the connector housing 111 is fitted in the front holder 151.
Then, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the shield connector 110 thus assembled is fastened and attached to the attached portion 170 by tightening the screws 160 in their respective screw holes 129. Accordingly, a contact pressure is obtained between the shield shell 121 and the attached portion 170, securing the seal performance of the shield connector 110.
In the related shield shell attachment structure 100 mentioned above, the shield shell 121 obtains the contact pressure on the attached portion 170 at four spots on the shield shell 121 at which the tightening forces of the screws 160 are exerted, as illustrated in FIG. 1. For this reason, it is difficult to obtain a contact pressure on the attached portion 170 from the entire shield shell 121.
In this respect, the applicant of the present application has proposed a shield shell attachment structure described in Patent Literature 1 for attaching the entire shield shell to the attached portion with a sufficient contact pressure.
FIGS. 3 and 4 are views illustrating the shield shell attachment structure described in Patent Literature 1. FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating a shield shell described in Patent Literature 1. FIG. 4 is a side view illustrating the shield shell attachment structure described in Patent Literature 1.
As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, a shield shell attachment structure 200 includes a shield shell connector 210 including a shield shell 221 having fixation pieces 223 projecting toward an attached portion 270 and also having an elastic piece 225 configured to be elastically deformed when contacting the attached portion 270.
As illustrated in FIG. 4, the shield shell 221 is attached to the attached portion 270 by laying the fixation pieces 223 on the upper surface of the attached portion 270 and fastening them with screws 260 tightened from above.
When the fixation pieces 223 are fastened to the attached portion 270 by tightening the screws 260 as described, the elastic piece 225, provided on the opposite side to the fixation pieces 223, presses the attached portion 270. Accordingly, a contact pressure on the attached portion 270 can be obtained from the entire shield shell 221.